Bulletin-board.



J. M. JOHNSON.'

. BULLETIN BOARD.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 14. 1909.

Patented sep1;.6,191o.

wund/sam a study,

JOSEPH M. JOHNSON, OF NORMAL, ILLINOIS.

BULLETIN-BOARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 6, 1910.

Application filed July 14, 1909. Serial No. 507,600.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH M. JOHNSON, citizen of the United States, residing at Normal, in the county of McLean and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bulletin-Boards, of which the following is a specilication.

This invention relates to new and useful im provements in bulletin boards especially designed for school rooms, and broadly comprising generally speaking, a backing of any suitable material having' thereon a series of parallel grooved strips and a series of interchangeable blocks containing' the names of the various studies, which are adapted to be inserted between the strips and to be interchanged as desired, one end of the board having three strips and two sets of blocks, one set of blocks indicating the hours of recitation, the other indicating the various lengths of time.

The invention consists in the arrangement above stated, together with the details of construction set forth in the accompanying specification and specifically stated in the claims appended.

For a full understanding of the invention and the merits thereof, and to acquire a knowledge of the details of construction, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawing', in which:

Figure l is a face view of my improved board; Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2 2 of Fig. l; Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 3-3 of Fig. l; Fig. 4L is an enlarged end view of one of the blocks; and, Fig. 5 is an enlarged end view of a compound block formed of two sections.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawing by the same reference characters.

Referring to the drawing, base board of any desired character. This may be made of pasteboard, thin wood or other suitable material. Attached to the outer face of the base board are a series of parallel strips designated 3, these strips having a T-shaped form so as to provide grooves on each side when the strips are fastened to the backing. The blocks to be used with my bulletin board are designated 4. Each block contains on its face the name of subject or recitation, and each block is grooved at its side so as to engage with 2 designates a the tongues of the parallel strips 3. Preferably, each block is formed simply with a lower flange 5 which fits within the grooves of the strips 3, and the upper flange of the block is formed by a facing piece of cardboard or other suitable material 6 which is attached to the outer face of the block and projects over the T-shaped strip 3. It will thus be seen that the outside layer G of cardboard extends on each side of the middle of the strips 3, and therefore when the blocks are in place, the strips 3 are entirely covered so that an almost even and unbroken face is given to the bulletin. This permits of a much greater amount of writing space on the board than if the faces of the blocks did not project over the strips 3, besides furnishing a surface whereon the name of the study may be printed. These facing pieces 6 may be easily removed and replaced, if desired, whenever it is required to change the studies.

It will be seen from the drawing that I have prepared a number of columns lettered A, B, C, D, etc., each column being assigned to a class and teacher, or a room. On the extreme right of the board are two columns I and K, the column I being used for blocks indicating the various hours and periods at which the recitation is to commence, the column K havinga certain number of minutes thereon, said minutes, so indicated, showing the length of recitations. As will be seen from the drawing, these blocks are so arranged in regular order from the beginning of the school day to the end thereof as to indicate the times at which the various studies are to be taken up, or recitations made, and the length o-f such study times or recitations.

Preferably my bulletin board is made in two parts adapted to be hinged to each other so as to fold over, the hinge being on the back board. One of these parts or sections will be used for the morning exercises and the other for the afternoon work. In order to hold the blocks in place, I provide the transverse strips 7 which are attached in any suitable manner to the backing 2 and close the lower ends of the spaces between the strips 3. As a means of holding the strips upon the backing, I have shown the strips as slotted, as at 8, and the backing provided with a headed screw 9 which, when turned transversely to the slot 8, holds the strip in place, and which, when turned parallel to the slot, permits the strip to be removed. The transverse strip at one end of a column may be fixed, and the transverse strip at the other end may be removable. Preferably, for the upper section of the bulletin board, the uppermost strip 7 is removable, and for the lowerinost section, the lowermost strip 7.

It is often necessary that the room in which a certain class is to meet, or a certain recitation is to be made, be indicated, and for this purpose I provide the relatively short blocks l0 and 11, these two blocks together filling the space between the two strips 3. For this purpose the block 10 is grooved on its side, precisely as before explained with the blocks 4, but the block l1 is provided on one side with a groove and on its other side with a tongue 12. By this means, t-wo blocks may be inserted in one column, thus permitting the subject of t-he study or recitation to be pla-ced upon the block ll, while the face of the block l() will give the name of the school room in which the recitation is to take place. Of course there are a number of blank-faced blocks provided for insertion in the columns at recess periods.

My invention is simple, extremely convenient for school rooms; the program may be easily changed; it saves space on the black boards which would ordinarily be used for the purpose of writing the names of the different classes with their recitation periods; and it is superior to a written bulletin or program, for the reason that it may be printed and may be of such .size that the printed characters may be easily distinguished over the entire school room and be much more legible than mere writing could be.

It will be obvious also that recitation periods may be indicated in one color of ink, while study periods may appear in another color of ink.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is 1. A bulletin board comprising a back having parallel spaced strips mounted theres on and forming guideways, in combination with a pair of blocks having tongue and groove engagement with each other on one edge, the outer edges of the blocks being adapted to engage with said guideways.

2. The combination with a bulletin board comprising a back piece having on its face a sei'ies of parallel guideways, of a pair of blocks insertible between said guideways, said blocks adapted when placed together to fill the space between said guideways and formed on their contacting edges with a tongue and groove joint, the face of one of the blocks having thereon the naine of a subjectto be studied, the other of said blocks having thereon indications of the place at which the study will be conducted.

3. In a bulletin board, the' combination with a back piece having thereon a series of parallel T-shaped strips, of a series of interchangeable blocks adapted to be inserted between said strips, said blocks having projecting base flanges on their lateral edges, the face vof said blocks being formed with a projecting plate of dissimilar material extending beyond the blocks and adapted to extend halfway across the front faces of the strips into contiguity with the next adjacent blocks.

ll. In a bulletin board, a back-piece having a plurality of vertical T-shaped strips forming guideways in combination with a plurality of interchangeable blocks insertible into the guideways, each of said blocks having a marginal fiange extending beneath the guiding utrips, the outer face of the block being provided with a facing piece of dissimilar material to the block extending beyond the block on each side and overlapping the flanged guiding strips.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

S. M. J oHNsoN. 

